Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My Kid Made Breakfast
And he set the table. He made scrambled eggs, toast with butter, juice, the works. And it was such a huge help to me this morning. I had to do a load of laundry before we left for school and work and there is no way I could have done everything by myself this morning. Today is the day when my calorie cycle hits its all-time low and having a sizable portion of protein first thing in the morning helps me get through the day without going over my limit. I like being able to count on my kid. Yay, Solomon!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Our Day in Pictures (& a Few Words)
Playground.
Boulder climbing.
Monkey-like antics.
Cloudless sky.
Scooters.
Sidewalk chalk.
Artwork.
Flip flops.
Bubble wands.
Water guns.
Owies.
Shadows.
Her Royal Puppyness, Abby.
The driveway.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
I Pray for You
The video:
Pray for You - Jaron and The Long Road to Love (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - Funny bloopers are a click away
And the lyrics:
Now that we've got that out of the way -- are ya kiddin' me?! This self-aggrandizing, spiteful garbage is considered prayer? Is that what the minister means by praying for those who do you wrong? Really? This might be one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Between this and the joke circulating around about praying for President Obama's death, I'm pretty disgusted with a good portion of the U.S. population. Ugh.
Have you heard the joke about praying for the president's death? No? Lucky. Let me burst that bubble for you. It goes something like this:
I know some people will get all huffy and say I can't take a joke and that I'm hypersensitive but really, that's not true. I appreciate jokes. I love humor and I especially love dark humor. However, jokes about praying for someone to die are not funny. I put them into the same category as jokes with racial undertones and jokes about mental handicaps. If you want to wish someone dead just own up to it. Don't try to cloak it in distasteful jokes or stupid songs.
So there you go. That song and that joke and all the people who like them are on My List.
Pray for You - Jaron and The Long Road to Love (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - Funny bloopers are a click away
And the lyrics:
I haven't been to church since I don't remember when
Things were going great til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can't go hatin' others who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin' down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flyin' high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
I'm really glad I found my way to church
Cause I'm already feelin' better and I thank God for the words
Yeah, I'm gonna take the high road and do what the preacher told me to do
You keep messin' up, and I'll keep prayin' for you
I pray your tire goes out at 110
I pray you pass out drunk with your best friend
And wake up with his and her tattoos
I pray your brakes go out runnin' down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flyin' high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, near or far
In your house or in your car
Wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
I pray for you
Now that we've got that out of the way -- are ya kiddin' me?! This self-aggrandizing, spiteful garbage is considered prayer? Is that what the minister means by praying for those who do you wrong? Really? This might be one of the worst songs I've ever heard. Between this and the joke circulating around about praying for President Obama's death, I'm pretty disgusted with a good portion of the U.S. population. Ugh.
Have you heard the joke about praying for the president's death? No? Lucky. Let me burst that bubble for you. It goes something like this:
Dear God, last year you took my favorite singer Michael Jackson, my favorite actor Patrick Swayze and my favorite actress Farrah Fawcett. So I just wanted to tell you that my favorite president is Barack Obama.Let me enumerate all the reasons this is so terrible:
- It's disrespectful to the office of the president, regardless of political affiliation.
- It's supposing that God actually chooses who is going to die and when and that his decision can be influenced by human whims. For those that believe that God is omniscient, omnipotent and truly loving, this is absurd. (And for the record, I've only heard this joke from people who claim to believe this.)
- It's unpatriotic. (And again, for the record, I've only heard this joke from people to whom unpatriotic actions are akin to blasphemy of their God.)
- It trivializes the deaths of some truly magnificent artists and allows them to be just the build up to a terrible punch line.
I know some people will get all huffy and say I can't take a joke and that I'm hypersensitive but really, that's not true. I appreciate jokes. I love humor and I especially love dark humor. However, jokes about praying for someone to die are not funny. I put them into the same category as jokes with racial undertones and jokes about mental handicaps. If you want to wish someone dead just own up to it. Don't try to cloak it in distasteful jokes or stupid songs.
So there you go. That song and that joke and all the people who like them are on My List.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What. The. Heck.
What. The. Heck. #1
The patient is 14 minutes late and is a typical toddler so he does not want to follow his mother and me to the exam room. A sensible parent picks up their toddler at this point and carries him or her. The insensible ones fake walk away from their kids, trying to manipulate their kids into following them. (Bad idea all around, for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that it does not work.) This mother was one of the insensible ones. When her child plopped himself on the floor and cried, she took him by the hand and half dragged-half walked him to the room. All this time, I'm standing there and thinking about the other 3 patients I have waiting on me and wishing I could educate this mother.
What. The. Heck. #2
This mother missed her son's 6 month, 9 month and 12 month well visits, therefore he's very behind on the standard immunization schedule. This mother wants to catch up all the shots possible today. That means 6 shots. One of those injections has 5 components.
What. The. Heck. #3
Mother is concerned about his weight (which was okay, for the record.) so I asked how much he eats and what kinds of foods. She states that he really likes sweets and that's about all he eats. I advise that she stop offering artificial sweets and encourage better choices. I say that eventually he'll eat and learn to eat better things. Patient's mother nods and smiles. Later when I return to give her child all 6 of his shots, she whips out a Dum-Dum for him before I can even blink. So much for not offering sweets, huh? Also, if she keeps a stash of Dum-Dums for any potentially bad situation, she's setting her child up for a lifetime of problems.
Again, I say What. The. Heck.
The patient is 14 minutes late and is a typical toddler so he does not want to follow his mother and me to the exam room. A sensible parent picks up their toddler at this point and carries him or her. The insensible ones fake walk away from their kids, trying to manipulate their kids into following them. (Bad idea all around, for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that it does not work.) This mother was one of the insensible ones. When her child plopped himself on the floor and cried, she took him by the hand and half dragged-half walked him to the room. All this time, I'm standing there and thinking about the other 3 patients I have waiting on me and wishing I could educate this mother.
What. The. Heck. #2
This mother missed her son's 6 month, 9 month and 12 month well visits, therefore he's very behind on the standard immunization schedule. This mother wants to catch up all the shots possible today. That means 6 shots. One of those injections has 5 components.
What. The. Heck. #3
Mother is concerned about his weight (which was okay, for the record.) so I asked how much he eats and what kinds of foods. She states that he really likes sweets and that's about all he eats. I advise that she stop offering artificial sweets and encourage better choices. I say that eventually he'll eat and learn to eat better things. Patient's mother nods and smiles. Later when I return to give her child all 6 of his shots, she whips out a Dum-Dum for him before I can even blink. So much for not offering sweets, huh? Also, if she keeps a stash of Dum-Dums for any potentially bad situation, she's setting her child up for a lifetime of problems.
Again, I say What. The. Heck.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Bumper Sticker Shopping Again
So my car -- her name is Susie, by the way -- isn't quite so bright, shiny and new any more. She's still fabulous, of course; that will never change. But I'm ready to adorn her with bumper stickers and such now. I'm getting another Coexist sticker because I love that sticker so much. I'll be getting a couple more that reflect my views and stuff but in the mean time, here are a couple that I considered for a time:
Saturday, May 15, 2010
New Phone
A few weeks ago I took Samuel to the office for his 7 year well visit. And by 'the office' I mean my office, where I work. It's chock full of great people who can take great care of my kids. Anyway, moving right along ... The visit went just fine.
Jennifer called during the appointment but I couldn't answer the phone so (I thought) I put it back into my coat pocket and continued the visit. Just before we left my friend Lisa came in to poke Samuel's finger and check his hemoglobin level. He. Did. Not. Like. That. One. Bit. It took both of us to wrestle him onto the table and pry his pinky finger out of his fist for the 1/16th of a second it takes to employ the lancet. His hemoglobin was great, by the way, a testament to his incredible strength.
We collected ourselves and headed over to Chick-Fil-A for some lunch. While in Chick-Fil-A Samuel blew some bubbles into his milkshake which caused it to explode all over the table. I reached for my phone to take a picture, all prepared for a PSA post here about blowing milkshake bubbles. But my phone was not there. I looked in my 14 coat pockets and my 5 pants pockets and my bag. Not there. No biggie. Probably in the car.
We finished lunch and went to the car to take Samuel back to school. My phone was not there. I ripped up the floor mats, moved my seat back and forth, dumped out my purse twice and moved all the booster seats. No phone. Went back into Chick-Fil-A. No phone. Went back to the office. No phone.
I was a tad freaked out because my phone is integral to my daily life and I didn't realize just how integral until I could not find it. I figured that I must have thrown it into the trash at Chick-Fil-A and decided that it wasn't worth searching through other people's half-eaten food for a 2 1/2 year old phone. So I dropped Samuel off at school and headed to the AT&T store.
I've been drooling over iPhones for years. I almost bought one last summer. But I didn't. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway. It's been past time for me to get a phone upgrade for months and months but I just kept putting it off. I figured that the loss of my phone was a sign of some sort that I should get a new phone. And why not get an iPhone?
The AT&T dude was very cool. I told him the sad saga of the morning and how all the signs were pointing to an iPhone. His eyes practically turned into dollar signs like in a cartoon. I decided on the 16 GB 3GS, the accessories to accompany it and the Apple Care to support it. I couldn't fathom needing 32 GB of space on a phone, for Pete's sake. But again, not important right now. Moving right along.
I decided to go ahead and get a new phone number. I've kept my Texas number because it was simpler than changing my number and I kind of liked the, "Hm, where is that number based?" questions. But when in Colorado ...
I got my phone, fell into a nice, comfortable infatuation with it and finished my party errands. The only reason to be upset was that I had lost all the contacts in my old phone, about 200 numbers. (Yikes!) As I waited in the pick up line at the kids' school, Paul called me and said that Lisa had texted him and said that she had my phone at the office. (My phone is so important because, of those 200 numbers, I have precisely 3 memorized -- Jennifer, Paul and work. When I got the new number I was able to call Paul and Jennifer and tell them what happened.)
Crappola. Now I had two phones, one of which was deactivated. Do I return the iPhone and keep my old phone? Or do I just transfer the old contacts into the new phone? Returning it was out of the question. I was already in loooooove.
So I got the old phone from the office (Apparently, Samuel kicked it off the table during the finger poking episode and Lisa took it to the nurse's station, thinking I'd come back for it. And I did but she hadn't told the front desk about it so they told me they didn't have it.), took it to the AT&T store and the nice man who sold me the iPhone opened it up to retrieve the SIM card so I could have all my numbers.
So, long story short: girl loses phone, panics, buys brand new fantabulous phone, falls in love, lives happily ever after.
Jennifer called during the appointment but I couldn't answer the phone so (I thought) I put it back into my coat pocket and continued the visit. Just before we left my friend Lisa came in to poke Samuel's finger and check his hemoglobin level. He. Did. Not. Like. That. One. Bit. It took both of us to wrestle him onto the table and pry his pinky finger out of his fist for the 1/16th of a second it takes to employ the lancet. His hemoglobin was great, by the way, a testament to his incredible strength.
We collected ourselves and headed over to Chick-Fil-A for some lunch. While in Chick-Fil-A Samuel blew some bubbles into his milkshake which caused it to explode all over the table. I reached for my phone to take a picture, all prepared for a PSA post here about blowing milkshake bubbles. But my phone was not there. I looked in my 14 coat pockets and my 5 pants pockets and my bag. Not there. No biggie. Probably in the car.
We finished lunch and went to the car to take Samuel back to school. My phone was not there. I ripped up the floor mats, moved my seat back and forth, dumped out my purse twice and moved all the booster seats. No phone. Went back into Chick-Fil-A. No phone. Went back to the office. No phone.
I was a tad freaked out because my phone is integral to my daily life and I didn't realize just how integral until I could not find it. I figured that I must have thrown it into the trash at Chick-Fil-A and decided that it wasn't worth searching through other people's half-eaten food for a 2 1/2 year old phone. So I dropped Samuel off at school and headed to the AT&T store.
I've been drooling over iPhones for years. I almost bought one last summer. But I didn't. But that's neither here nor there. Anyway. It's been past time for me to get a phone upgrade for months and months but I just kept putting it off. I figured that the loss of my phone was a sign of some sort that I should get a new phone. And why not get an iPhone?
The AT&T dude was very cool. I told him the sad saga of the morning and how all the signs were pointing to an iPhone. His eyes practically turned into dollar signs like in a cartoon. I decided on the 16 GB 3GS, the accessories to accompany it and the Apple Care to support it. I couldn't fathom needing 32 GB of space on a phone, for Pete's sake. But again, not important right now. Moving right along.
I decided to go ahead and get a new phone number. I've kept my Texas number because it was simpler than changing my number and I kind of liked the, "Hm, where is that number based?" questions. But when in Colorado ...
I got my phone, fell into a nice, comfortable infatuation with it and finished my party errands. The only reason to be upset was that I had lost all the contacts in my old phone, about 200 numbers. (Yikes!) As I waited in the pick up line at the kids' school, Paul called me and said that Lisa had texted him and said that she had my phone at the office. (My phone is so important because, of those 200 numbers, I have precisely 3 memorized -- Jennifer, Paul and work. When I got the new number I was able to call Paul and Jennifer and tell them what happened.)
Crappola. Now I had two phones, one of which was deactivated. Do I return the iPhone and keep my old phone? Or do I just transfer the old contacts into the new phone? Returning it was out of the question. I was already in loooooove.
So I got the old phone from the office (Apparently, Samuel kicked it off the table during the finger poking episode and Lisa took it to the nurse's station, thinking I'd come back for it. And I did but she hadn't told the front desk about it so they told me they didn't have it.), took it to the AT&T store and the nice man who sold me the iPhone opened it up to retrieve the SIM card so I could have all my numbers.
So, long story short: girl loses phone, panics, buys brand new fantabulous phone, falls in love, lives happily ever after.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Testing
Blogging from my phone. IT'S CAPITALIZNG EVERYTHING WITHOUT PERMISSION. Sorry for yelling. Have to figure this out. Blerg.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Red Letter Day
- Miriam has a field trip to the zoo. Fun, fun, fun! I packed her lunch with a little I-love-you-have-tons-of-fun note.
- Samuel has been learning Easy Talk in speech. It's a method to help him get past stuttering in his daily speech. I've been encouraging him to use it throughout the day but he's been resistant because he's self-conscious about talking more slowly. This morning he got really frustrated but stopped, took a breath and switched to Easy Talk and got through it! I am so proud!!
- The kids have a school skating party tonight. There are several of them through the year and they always beg to go. This is the last one so I agreed to take them. I'm not looking forward to it, but they are. Immensely.
- I have lost 20 pounds!
- I get to eat 1900 calories today and we are hitting the Wendy's drive-thru before the skating party.
- My phone rocks. (I started a post about this and then abandoned it but I will finish it some day.)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Default Hiatus
I hate how I get out of the writing habit and it's so easy to just keep coasting without writing. This might sound silly but I feel like my brain gets clogged. I think about a lot of things that I want to write but I never get around to it so all the thoughts hang out in my gray matter. It gets kind of dusty up there like that.
I hope to do some spring cleaning this weekend.
I hope to do some spring cleaning this weekend.
Monday, April 19, 2010
I Hate the First Week After Breaks
I really do. When the kids are with the ex-husband in Albuquerque they eat all manner of crappy food, stay up way past anyone's decent bed time and are generally spoiled rotten by movies, video games, candy, amusement parks and no responsibilities. Then they have to come back here where I *gasp* make them eat healthful meals, go to bed at an appropriate time, do chores and I can't spend money on every entertainment their little hearts desire. It sucks for all of us.
So last week I was in a funk. It's tough enough to write about the mundane things during times like that, never mind the extraordinary ones. But we made it through the week. Literally one week of nagging, hounding, whining (both theirs and mine) and crying. Sunday was a great day and Sunday marked one week of the kids being back here with me.
Today was fabulous. Well, except for the minor frustrations this morning with Samuel's toothbrush. And his jacket. And his shoes. But that's kind of normal. We had a delicious, balanced meal and each kid was only reminded once to eat the veggies. I did not only a load of laundry, but also unloaded the dishwasher from yesterday, reloaded it after dinner and ran it! The kids had minimal homework that was done quickly and they even had time for some tv and a half hour of computer games. Everyone went to bed (almost) on time.
:contented sigh:
I hate Week One after school breaks. Week Two is okay.
So last week I was in a funk. It's tough enough to write about the mundane things during times like that, never mind the extraordinary ones. But we made it through the week. Literally one week of nagging, hounding, whining (both theirs and mine) and crying. Sunday was a great day and Sunday marked one week of the kids being back here with me.
Today was fabulous. Well, except for the minor frustrations this morning with Samuel's toothbrush. And his jacket. And his shoes. But that's kind of normal. We had a delicious, balanced meal and each kid was only reminded once to eat the veggies. I did not only a load of laundry, but also unloaded the dishwasher from yesterday, reloaded it after dinner and ran it! The kids had minimal homework that was done quickly and they even had time for some tv and a half hour of computer games. Everyone went to bed (almost) on time.
:contented sigh:
I hate Week One after school breaks. Week Two is okay.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Number, Part 8
So I wrote the other day that The Number was down by 16. And today it's officially down by 17. Woot! Three more will be a major milestone. I loved being able to say that I had lost 15 pounds. Saying that I've lost 20 pound will be that much more awesome. Also, the first 15 pounds were just what I had gained from July to December of last year. I need to get past that point. It's as much a mental thing as a physical thing now.
Also, I'm back to strict calorie counting. I proved to myself that I wasn't ready to quit counting. I stopped counting for roughly 3 weeks and reverted back to bad habits. Not as bad as before, but still bad. I didn't gain any weight but I maintained steadily and now is not the time to be maintaining. I hope to be maintaining this summer.
I didn't win the online Biggest Loser Challenge. I came in third, I think. And now I'm part of another Biggest Loser Challenge at work. I don't know if I'll win that one either but I'll do my best. Besides, the point isn't winning anyway -- the point is being fit and fabulous and loving it.
I joined a challenge with my online fitness friends to do push ups in the month of April. On April 1 we did one push up, on April 2 we did 2 push ups and so on. I decided to add crunches to my part of the challenge, too. I'm hoping to see some serious definition by the time summer rolls around.
My official goal is to lose 19 more pounds. That would put me at a weight that I haven't seen since the awful Summer of Divorce when I lived on Dr. Pepper for fear of vomiting all other sustenance from the hellacious anxiety and stress. I know 19 plus 17 sounds like a lot, and it is. And I might not actually get there. (But if I do, it'll be a much healthier weight than the Summer of Divorce because I will get there by healthy eating and healthy activity.) Those are just numbers. I can imagine what I will look like and feel like at that weight but if I get to a point before there that I feel fabulous and healthy I'll stop. I'm not as concerned about the numbers as I am about my feelings toward myself and my energy and overall health.
So there you have it -- a Number update.
Also, I'm back to strict calorie counting. I proved to myself that I wasn't ready to quit counting. I stopped counting for roughly 3 weeks and reverted back to bad habits. Not as bad as before, but still bad. I didn't gain any weight but I maintained steadily and now is not the time to be maintaining. I hope to be maintaining this summer.
I didn't win the online Biggest Loser Challenge. I came in third, I think. And now I'm part of another Biggest Loser Challenge at work. I don't know if I'll win that one either but I'll do my best. Besides, the point isn't winning anyway -- the point is being fit and fabulous and loving it.
I joined a challenge with my online fitness friends to do push ups in the month of April. On April 1 we did one push up, on April 2 we did 2 push ups and so on. I decided to add crunches to my part of the challenge, too. I'm hoping to see some serious definition by the time summer rolls around.
My official goal is to lose 19 more pounds. That would put me at a weight that I haven't seen since the awful Summer of Divorce when I lived on Dr. Pepper for fear of vomiting all other sustenance from the hellacious anxiety and stress. I know 19 plus 17 sounds like a lot, and it is. And I might not actually get there. (But if I do, it'll be a much healthier weight than the Summer of Divorce because I will get there by healthy eating and healthy activity.) Those are just numbers. I can imagine what I will look like and feel like at that weight but if I get to a point before there that I feel fabulous and healthy I'll stop. I'm not as concerned about the numbers as I am about my feelings toward myself and my energy and overall health.
So there you have it -- a Number update.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Awesomeness
This week on my online home there was a thread titled "Things that are awesome" and it made me really happy. People posted the good things that have happened to them this week or things that make them happy all the time or things that are, for lack of a better word, awesome. I liked the idea. So, without further explanation, things that are Awesome or Phenomenal or Tremendous or Excellent or whatever other superlative you'd like to tag them with:
- my adorable kids
- the fact that my kids are maturing and might, one day too soon, object to being called 'adorable'
- Paul
- my clean house
- the organic, grass-fed, free range, used-to-be happy beef that's now in my freezer
- movies
- music
- friends
- family
- game night
- excellent food
- decreasing The Number by 16 (Woo-hoo!)
- feeling like I'm exactly where I belong
- exploring school/becoming an RN options
- me (Yeah, I said it.)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Spoon
Spoon. Oh, yes. I really like Spoon.
Let's see, where do I start? Oh, how about with the transportation? I planned out my trip so that I would arrive via train and bus just before 8, when the openers started. But I went to dinner first with friends, lost track of time and missed the train. So I took a later one and missed the bus. No problem, I'll just catch a later bus, right? Wrong. The next bus wasn't for another hour. So I walked. It actually wasn't too bad, though. It was just over a mile. I ate way too much at dinner and the walk was a good way to burn some calories.
Anyway, when I got there everyone else was already inside so Jennifer came out to meet me with my ticket and we got in without any problems and found our crew some where near the front. The openers, as Caleb said, "Aren't bad. I just don't like them. Plus, that dude with the guitar is going to break. Like a twig." His description of the guitarist was right on -- he was really, really skinny. And not very smart. He tried to make a reference to Layne Staley but instead said 'Layne Stanley.' People didn't like his talking and not singing so he started to get some heckling. Someone flipped him off and he said, "Hey, why would you do that? You know, there was this lady named Emily Post who wrote some books -- you should f@ck!n' read 'em." That was kind of funny.
Somewhere during this I noticed puffs of smoke rising periodically from the crowd. Now it was pretty smokey in there because of the fog machines and stuff but there's no smoking allowed. However, it was quickly evident that this was not cigarette smoke. But you know, Colorado does allow people to smoke medical marijuana with a prescription, so who knows? Maybe our fellow concert-goers had chemo treatments earlier in the day or were suffering from cataracts. You never know.
I think it was right about this time that I started to smell something really foul and no, I'm not talking about the pot. It was really, really disgusting. Like stockyard disgusting. Jennifer smelled it, too and we decided that the girl in front of us had farted. It was so gross. I don't think I've ever smelled something that nasty from a person.
Standing so close to that many people is weird sometimes. I mean, in addition to the pot and the farts. The girl in front of me was really drunk and kept swaying and stepping backwards into my personal space, which is already tiny in a setting like this. Her hair was getting in my drink. Caleb offered to trade places with me and then he stood right next to her and didn't move when she backed up. Finally she realized what she was doing and went away. It took her a really long time to notice, though.
And then some where around here, I got hit in the back of the head by some guy's elbow. I turned around to see what happened and there was a guy behind me with his arms flailing around. At first I couldn't tell what happened. It looked like either a seizure or body-surfing gone bad. As it turns out, it was neither. Two guys got into it over personal space and one started throwing punches. Caleb picked up the aggressor and threw him off the other guy. So he left. The guy who got punched was bleeding and lost his glasses. That sucked.
Just before the show ended I noticed this guy who wandered into my line of site. I took a photo because the quote on his shirt is so cool. It says, "Only when the last river has been poisoned, the last tree has been cut down and the last fish has been killed will man realize that he cannot eat money." I just love that. I wish more people thought like that.
And here is my very, very dark photo of the Capitol. I have a thing for the Capitol. I don't know why. I just like it.
Let's see, where do I start? Oh, how about with the transportation? I planned out my trip so that I would arrive via train and bus just before 8, when the openers started. But I went to dinner first with friends, lost track of time and missed the train. So I took a later one and missed the bus. No problem, I'll just catch a later bus, right? Wrong. The next bus wasn't for another hour. So I walked. It actually wasn't too bad, though. It was just over a mile. I ate way too much at dinner and the walk was a good way to burn some calories.
Anyway, when I got there everyone else was already inside so Jennifer came out to meet me with my ticket and we got in without any problems and found our crew some where near the front. The openers, as Caleb said, "Aren't bad. I just don't like them. Plus, that dude with the guitar is going to break. Like a twig." His description of the guitarist was right on -- he was really, really skinny. And not very smart. He tried to make a reference to Layne Staley but instead said 'Layne Stanley.' People didn't like his talking and not singing so he started to get some heckling. Someone flipped him off and he said, "Hey, why would you do that? You know, there was this lady named Emily Post who wrote some books -- you should f@ck!n' read 'em." That was kind of funny.
Somewhere during this I noticed puffs of smoke rising periodically from the crowd. Now it was pretty smokey in there because of the fog machines and stuff but there's no smoking allowed. However, it was quickly evident that this was not cigarette smoke. But you know, Colorado does allow people to smoke medical marijuana with a prescription, so who knows? Maybe our fellow concert-goers had chemo treatments earlier in the day or were suffering from cataracts. You never know.
I think it was right about this time that I started to smell something really foul and no, I'm not talking about the pot. It was really, really disgusting. Like stockyard disgusting. Jennifer smelled it, too and we decided that the girl in front of us had farted. It was so gross. I don't think I've ever smelled something that nasty from a person.
Standing so close to that many people is weird sometimes. I mean, in addition to the pot and the farts. The girl in front of me was really drunk and kept swaying and stepping backwards into my personal space, which is already tiny in a setting like this. Her hair was getting in my drink. Caleb offered to trade places with me and then he stood right next to her and didn't move when she backed up. Finally she realized what she was doing and went away. It took her a really long time to notice, though.
And then some where around here, I got hit in the back of the head by some guy's elbow. I turned around to see what happened and there was a guy behind me with his arms flailing around. At first I couldn't tell what happened. It looked like either a seizure or body-surfing gone bad. As it turns out, it was neither. Two guys got into it over personal space and one started throwing punches. Caleb picked up the aggressor and threw him off the other guy. So he left. The guy who got punched was bleeding and lost his glasses. That sucked.
Just before the show ended I noticed this guy who wandered into my line of site. I took a photo because the quote on his shirt is so cool. It says, "Only when the last river has been poisoned, the last tree has been cut down and the last fish has been killed will man realize that he cannot eat money." I just love that. I wish more people thought like that.
And here is my very, very dark photo of the Capitol. I have a thing for the Capitol. I don't know why. I just like it.
Playing Catch Up
The kids have been gone for almost two weeks so I've had a lot of free time. That free time has been spent with Paul and other cool people, working and doing fun stuff. I haven't had a lot of time for writing. I miss it so I thought I'd get back into the groove with a brief summary of what I've been up to.
Paul and I didn't make it to the Western Slope for the spring wine festival. A big snow storm moved over the mountains and we decided it was too risky to drive I-70, especially when it's already been shut down to one lane by a rock slide. Fortunately, the B&B owners let us reschedule our weekend to July 4th if we added another night to our stay. There's another wine and blues festival that weekend so that will be fun.
Since we were in town that weekend we instead got to go out with Jenn, Caleb, some of Caleb's family and some friends. We ate at Jonesy's Eatbar and then went next door to hear Reckless Red. It was a fun night. That weekend we also went to see a couple of movies: Alice in Wonderland and Crazy Heart. Alice in Wonderland was predictably good if you like the combo of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. And I do. Crazy Heart was really, really good. Jeff Bridges truly deserved his Oscar this year. Fabulous movie.
On Tuesday night that week Paul had free vouchers for Comedy Works. It was new talent night so the comics were hit or miss. There were half a dozen that we really enjoyed. Afterward we spent some time walking around downtown and people watching. We discovered that there's actually not much going on after 10 pm on a Tuesday night. Ha!
Last weekend we spent Sunday with friends of a friend from my office. They play Egg Wars for Easter. I picked weak eggs and lost badly. But there was tons of delicious food and good conversation. I like this making new friends thing.
Last night I had dinner with some work friends and then met Jenn, Caleb and friends downtown for Spoon. Needless to say, we had a great time. We always do. More about that later.
This Friday night I'm hosting ladies' game night at my place. I don't know how much game playing we'll get done, but there will be delicious food, some drinks and laughter. It's going to be great.
I'm making some more progress on settling into the new place. I have some artwork up on the wall above my bed. I also have some new artwork up in the dining room and living room. And I'm working on an idea for the hallway. I'll post some more pictures when I'm all finished. I'm making Samuel a duvet for his bed, too. I've made bedding for the other two kids in the past but he was so little then that he couldn't really voice an opinion. The poor kid has been using Miriam's hand-me-down, flowered, pink-and-purple comforter for quite some time. He says he wants his cover to be half yellow and half orange and he's going to get exactly that.
I've talked to the kids several times. They're having a blast and being spoiled at least 1/2 rotten in ABQ. They come back this coming Sunday and I'm really excited to hug them and squeeze them again. They're such great kids and I miss them.
Samuel turned 7 last week. For some reason, his 7th birthday is difficult for me to wrap my head around. He just seems so grown up now. For so long, he's been The Baby. And I suppose in some ways, he always will be; he is the youngest, after all. But 7 years old is so much not a baby. I'm not sad about him getting older -- I'm not That Mom. It's just weird to think about my youngest being so big. Samuel does tell me that he'll always be my baby, though. If I could insert a pink, puffy heart here, I would.
So I don't know about this being brief but it's a summary, at least. It's good to be back.
Paul and I didn't make it to the Western Slope for the spring wine festival. A big snow storm moved over the mountains and we decided it was too risky to drive I-70, especially when it's already been shut down to one lane by a rock slide. Fortunately, the B&B owners let us reschedule our weekend to July 4th if we added another night to our stay. There's another wine and blues festival that weekend so that will be fun.
Since we were in town that weekend we instead got to go out with Jenn, Caleb, some of Caleb's family and some friends. We ate at Jonesy's Eatbar and then went next door to hear Reckless Red. It was a fun night. That weekend we also went to see a couple of movies: Alice in Wonderland and Crazy Heart. Alice in Wonderland was predictably good if you like the combo of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. And I do. Crazy Heart was really, really good. Jeff Bridges truly deserved his Oscar this year. Fabulous movie.
On Tuesday night that week Paul had free vouchers for Comedy Works. It was new talent night so the comics were hit or miss. There were half a dozen that we really enjoyed. Afterward we spent some time walking around downtown and people watching. We discovered that there's actually not much going on after 10 pm on a Tuesday night. Ha!
Last weekend we spent Sunday with friends of a friend from my office. They play Egg Wars for Easter. I picked weak eggs and lost badly. But there was tons of delicious food and good conversation. I like this making new friends thing.
Last night I had dinner with some work friends and then met Jenn, Caleb and friends downtown for Spoon. Needless to say, we had a great time. We always do. More about that later.
This Friday night I'm hosting ladies' game night at my place. I don't know how much game playing we'll get done, but there will be delicious food, some drinks and laughter. It's going to be great.
I'm making some more progress on settling into the new place. I have some artwork up on the wall above my bed. I also have some new artwork up in the dining room and living room. And I'm working on an idea for the hallway. I'll post some more pictures when I'm all finished. I'm making Samuel a duvet for his bed, too. I've made bedding for the other two kids in the past but he was so little then that he couldn't really voice an opinion. The poor kid has been using Miriam's hand-me-down, flowered, pink-and-purple comforter for quite some time. He says he wants his cover to be half yellow and half orange and he's going to get exactly that.
I've talked to the kids several times. They're having a blast and being spoiled at least 1/2 rotten in ABQ. They come back this coming Sunday and I'm really excited to hug them and squeeze them again. They're such great kids and I miss them.
Samuel turned 7 last week. For some reason, his 7th birthday is difficult for me to wrap my head around. He just seems so grown up now. For so long, he's been The Baby. And I suppose in some ways, he always will be; he is the youngest, after all. But 7 years old is so much not a baby. I'm not sad about him getting older -- I'm not That Mom. It's just weird to think about my youngest being so big. Samuel does tell me that he'll always be my baby, though. If I could insert a pink, puffy heart here, I would.
So I don't know about this being brief but it's a summary, at least. It's good to be back.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Heard a New One Today
Acne's foot. As in --
What's that cream? That one that you use? For the rashes? On the feet? For acne's foot?
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
So We Got Our Snow Day
Two years in a row we get our first snow day of the season in March. To be fair, if school had been in session in October we'd have had at least one snow day then but it was Fall Break and the kids were already out. But seriously, blizzards in October and March?! Colorado is weird with its weather blending Rocky Mountains.
Today is going to be fun. Miriam and I made biscuits from scratch for breakfast. We also scrambled some eggs and added cheese and turkey bacon to make our own breakfast sandwiches. Yum! Lunch will be leftover pasta and veggie bake from last night. And for dinner tonight -- it's Taco Extravaganza! I'm going to make more salsa, simmer chicken and good stuff in the crock pot and top everything with tomato, avocado, lettuce and cheese.
The Number is screaming at me right now but I'm telling it to chill out. I had one biscuit (153 calories, because I was curious) with one slice of bacon and tiny servings of cheese and eggs. And it filled me up so much that I won't need any snacks this morning. Plus I might have a salad at lunch instead of the pasta stuff. Tacos will be okay -- they're chicken, the tortillas are multi-grain, there is no sour cream and I'm not venturing out to get any, I'll have a reasonable amount of cheese and some black beans. It'll be great. So, chill out Number voices. I've got it under control here.
The kids have decided to spend all day in their pajamas, which is fine by me. The boys are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Miriam is going through her school memory box. She keeps bringing me cute pictures and stuff she did in pre-school and kindergarten. She's amazed by some of the things she's done. I heard talk of some sort of treasure hunt game that the kids invented last night. I think they're going to continue that today. I'm not sure what it entails but they love it. Later we'll put on snow pants and go outside to dig the car out and throw snow at each other. If you're lucky I'll get some snowy photos. I'm going to get ahead on laundry, pack my bag for this weekend and maybe paint my nails. OPI is calling to me.
I heart snow days.
Today is going to be fun. Miriam and I made biscuits from scratch for breakfast. We also scrambled some eggs and added cheese and turkey bacon to make our own breakfast sandwiches. Yum! Lunch will be leftover pasta and veggie bake from last night. And for dinner tonight -- it's Taco Extravaganza! I'm going to make more salsa, simmer chicken and good stuff in the crock pot and top everything with tomato, avocado, lettuce and cheese.
The Number is screaming at me right now but I'm telling it to chill out. I had one biscuit (153 calories, because I was curious) with one slice of bacon and tiny servings of cheese and eggs. And it filled me up so much that I won't need any snacks this morning. Plus I might have a salad at lunch instead of the pasta stuff. Tacos will be okay -- they're chicken, the tortillas are multi-grain, there is no sour cream and I'm not venturing out to get any, I'll have a reasonable amount of cheese and some black beans. It'll be great. So, chill out Number voices. I've got it under control here.
The kids have decided to spend all day in their pajamas, which is fine by me. The boys are watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Miriam is going through her school memory box. She keeps bringing me cute pictures and stuff she did in pre-school and kindergarten. She's amazed by some of the things she's done. I heard talk of some sort of treasure hunt game that the kids invented last night. I think they're going to continue that today. I'm not sure what it entails but they love it. Later we'll put on snow pants and go outside to dig the car out and throw snow at each other. If you're lucky I'll get some snowy photos. I'm going to get ahead on laundry, pack my bag for this weekend and maybe paint my nails. OPI is calling to me.
I heart snow days.
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